Improvement in the manufacture of casks



221e3$98 V l ITED STATES] HENRY DE BUS, OF CINCINNATI, 01110.

' IMPROVEMENT IN T MANUF CTp E OF cAsKs.

specificationlforming part of Letters Patent To all whom it may concern Be itknown that I, HENRY DE Bus, of

Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton andState of Ohio, have invented certain-new and useful Improvements in. Manufacth're of Casks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled iuthe art to which it. appertains to make and use the same, reference 'bein g had to the accompanying "drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The main object of my invention is theimprovement of that mode of menfnfacturing wood-stave casksaccording to which the stares are steamed preparatory to bending, or inthe act of trussing them, my aim being the production'of casks the stave-joints of which shall notbe liable to open by reason of the shrinkage of the staves, andthe'sta'ves of which shall be permanently set in the process of manufacture, so as to relieve the perman nt hoops of much strain. 4- To this end my invention consists in steaming the staves while set up ina truss-hoop at one end, and, after applying atruss-lioop at; the other end, drying the .shell of stares byv artificial heat to maximum shrinkage.

It'further consists in-the step, in the process of manufacturing casks' of ;-drying the stares [by artificial heat-to maxnnum shrinkage while such staves are as'sembled'in cask form.

- Inbracticing my invention wood staves,,

oughly clean the staves, the cask may afterjointed in the ordinary way, are to Meet up in one head truss-hoop; Thus setup, they are g to be transferred to and placed in a steamingbox', where they must be. steamed (to the requiredextent to render ther'n-pliable. .On removal, from the steamingb0x the staves are to be windlassed, or in othermanner drawn togather at the unconfined end, to which the head truss-hoop is then to be applied.- Stand l 'in'g thus in the two head truss-hoops the shell of stavcs is to be'put in a-kiln .or drying-room and subjected to artificial dry heat toproduce maximum shrinkage of the stares. After that has been accomplished the shell of'staves may betrussed inany known or preferred manner, .a'fter whichthe ordinary methods may be fol lowed to transform the shell into a cask.

No. 221,398, dated November 11, 1879; I application filed August 2, 187.9.

described may be briefly, stated as follows The drying of thej'staves by artificial heat whilejin-barrel form, and still in'a pliable condition from the steaming, fixesand sets the staves in their bent form, so as to relieve them of strain and to prevent crackinggr breaking, while the strain on the permanent oops is also greatly lessened, and the-subsequent removal and reapplieatio'n of the hoops becomes much less difiicult'. "The steaming of the staves extracts and removes from them soluble ingredien ts, and the subsequent rapid. artificial drying close vand compact that it is less liable to change by the action of the atmosphere as redriving of the hoops may be almost wholly dispensed with.

dental advantage also of. extracting coloring and fermenting substances from the wood, so that barrels or ca'sks made after my invention arepeculiarly adapted forwhite alcoholic liqthat are deleteriously afl'ected by such. color ing or fermenting substances in the staves of casks.- .Thelonger thest'aves are submitted "to the steaming process the cleaner they will Where it is desirable to still more thorward be rinsed with an acidulated wash; but

who sells his product to a rectifier, who emp-v tiesthe barrel or cask within'a few days, after he cleansed by the spirits, and in the proper clean condition for the rectified-goods;

When the headsof casks tobe nsedforwhite alcoholic spirits, molasses, 850., are made-of woods that contain as much of coloring or fer: mentingsubstances as the stares, such heads should also be steamed.

the steaming of the staves with subsequent drying by artificial heat,asheretofore'de- Some of the adtantages incident to the'manufacture of casks according to the method just to maximum shrinkage renders the wood so' gards shrinking or swelling or-for n. Hence. a ,the joints-will remain tighlaan'd the periodical The steaming of the istaves hastheincif uors, molasses, sirups, and many other articles become as respects such coloring orffe'rmenting substancesr Y this is not necessary in any case: where the barrel or cask isuse'd fonspirit'sby a'distiller,

; it was first filled, forin such'case the-cask will The bestresultjsare obtained by combining scribedbut the drying of the staves, while assemb ed in cask form by artificial heat will produce beneficial results in the ordinary process of manufacture where the staves are fired.

It is also evident that the drying feature ofmy-invention may be practiced in a steaming process where-the stares are steamed before they are set up.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In the manufacture of casks,.the process,

substantially as before set' forth, of shaping and seasoning the same, which consists ofth following steps, viz: first, steaming the staves while set up in a truss-hoop at one end; seo- 0nd, windlassingthe stav'es and applying a truss-hoop at the other and; third, drying the shell of staves by artificial heat to maximum shrinkage.

2. In -the process of manufacturing casks,

the drying of the staves by artificial heat to maximum shrinkage while assembled in cask form, substantially as before set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 30th day of July, 1879. x

, HENRY DE BUS. Witnesses:

JOHN W. HILL, E. C. MARTIN. 

